# What's this thing called? (police suspects board)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 29, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989 "2013-04-29T05:54:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/1 "2013-04-29T05:54:34Z")

</div>

What’s that noticeboard-like thing police (appear to) use in most crime dramas, usually like a chalk or cork board with suspect photos and things pinned up and joined together with some red string or whatever?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/2 "2013-04-29T05:58:16Z")

</div>

A [whiteboard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteboard).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/3 "2013-04-29T17:52:24Z")

</div>

I know that, I was hoping for some sort of magical police vocab for it

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/4 "2013-04-29T18:42:12Z")

</div>

I always thought it was called an absurd TV writer’s dream of what police work looks like. Especially the string part.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/5 "2013-04-29T18:44:05Z")

</div>

A “prop” or “set dressing.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-thing-called-police-suspects-board/656989/6 "2013-04-29T19:09:32Z")

</div>

They had one in _The Wire_, so I’m guessing Real Police use them, or at least, Real Baltimore Police.